I’m writing these comments shortly after seeing this movie at AMC First Colony, and I’m very tired and need a nap due to boredom.  This movie stinks, the story sucks, the character development was nonexistent, and I didn’t like or care about any of the characters.  Other than that, it was a bang-up film.

The plot centers in present-day Cape Town, South Africa where a CIA safe house is located.  A young CIA agent named Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds) is tasked with safeguarding a  legendary, former CIA agent who has gone rogue.  That sounds like a decent storyline and with the big dog Denzel Washington playing Tobin Frost who has been off the grid for over nine years, this will be a big success at the box office.  My Friday afternoon crowd numbered more than 200!

There are a lot of clichés like “off the grid” and “we’ll take it from here” and “what’s your twenty?”.  Actually, I don’t know if anyone said “what’s your twenty” but this movie reminded me of “Smokey and the Bandit” which was better than “Stupid House.”  I’m sorry; I meant to type “Safe House,” but couldn’t.

I had high hopes for this film because I’m a huge fan of Denzel; I watched “Training Day” for the tenth time recently and he was deserving of his Oscar for his performance as the rogue L.A. Det. Alonzo Harris.  There’s that word “rogue” again.  Maybe Denzel excels at playing “rogue.”  Well, he’s batting fifty percent.   And Ryan Reynolds is not just another People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive; the boy can act.

Ok, I’m going to calm down and admit that Denzel and Ryan proved again that they are professionals and dutifully performed per the script; I don’t blame them.  So, who is to blame, Larry H.?  We must assign blame when we encounter a big budget mess.  Daniel Espinosa.  He was an up and coming 32 year old director when Denzel agreed to do this movie and I was pulling for Espinosa and he was part of the reason I went to this movie.  But making great movies is difficult Danny Boy and you need a little work.

The action was fast, but the camera angles were so tight and jerky that I had difficulty following the action at times though I appreciated the close-ups of the actors’ faces.  The editing was disjointed and goofy.  By the end of the movie, I hoped they all died.  This movie is an “oops.”  Rock ‘n Roll.

Grade 71.  Larry H.